We will all have seen the reports and video of what Blatter has said. When I first heard it I just could not believe that someone in his position would say these things. Utter baffoon.
However
I have since listened to various debates about this and I am now not fully convinced. When you were small in the playground we all were told sticks and stones etc..... so what if someone calls you a name on the football pitch?
So you play 90 mins against someone who will kick you, tackle you, maybe try the odd elbow, try and cheat by claiming for free kicks or throw ins that aren't his, maybe even call you an "f", or a "b", or a "c", maybe call your mother a w**** or whatever but as soon as he makes a call about the colour of your skin thats a reportable insult?
Where do you draw the line? I heard a debate on Radio Scotland today and of course, plenty of people saying you can't say this or that, but then someone phoned in to say does this mean the English can't call us Jocks? What about the Scottish love of hating England every time they play football? What about all the jokes about Irishmen?
I remember speaking to a guy whose family was from Pakistan and he would say that Paki does not offend him, as that is what he is, same as I was Scots etc.
Of course I am not condoning blatant racism, the sort walking up to a stranger and calling him names but are we blowing this all out of proportion? What makes a reference to your colour or creed more of an offence than a reference to your parentage etc?
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What makes it illegal is the law, right or wrong. Sepp is an 100% idiotic waste of space.
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Blatter is a self serving, money grabbing, power crazy richard head .
If he wasnt, then he might not have got such a hostile press for talking some sense for once in a while. He is right, its a physical hard game and stuff goes on. It should stay on the pitch tho.
And here is the crux, we have John Terry, a thoroughly nasty uncultured pig pfd ignorate piece of work, and Anton Ferdinand, a useless whining individual, overblown with misguided beliefs of his own talent, who is bitter that no-one thinks s he is as good as his cousin.
Thats why it happened, and why it did not stay on the field.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 21 Nov 11 at 19:54
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Sepp Blatter may be a buffoon but the FA do not help their case by choosing Terry to play for England.
Given the English FA have long been seen as anti Blatter as have the UK press, nothing they say on the matter will be taken seriously.. Crying "wolf" every year is not productive.
After all if Blatter should go so should MP Mercer who basically said many coloured people in the Services are a waste of space.
#
Double standards..
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Gab Marcotti of The Times said on 5Live last night Blatter is well thought of in Africa, partly because he took the World Cup there.
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>> Gab Marcotti of The Times said on 5Live last night Blatter is well thought of
>> in Africa, partly because he took the World Cup there.
His bank manager thinks even more of him after he took the World Cup to the Arabian Desert.
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Blatter is talking rubbish. Mercer's comments are ill judged but probably true to an extent. There are wasters and time servers in many professions and some of them are "of colour". I guess the Ghurkas are "Coloured" but one would call them a waste of space at one's peril!
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>>John Terry, a thoroughly nasty uncultured pig pfd ignorate piece of work<<
Thats a bit harsh Z! - There is no actual proof that he racially abused Ferdinand (your description of him (Ferdinand) is accurate tho`) as he has vehmenently denied it from the start. Ferdinand has made more of this than was, and has been "egged" on by his brother.
Apart from having an affair with the "EX" of a team mate he has done not much wrong!
Alot of folk have affairs in life, but none of them have been as villified as JT for it, and if you say its because he tried to hide it behind a super- injunction, theres plenty of men who have "paid" thier Mistressess to keep quiet, but because they are not in the public eye and the story wouldn`t sell toilet-roll papers, they aren`t interested.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 21 Nov 11 at 19:54
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...Thats a bit harsh Z!...
Not really.
John Terry has a criminal conviction for kicking out the glass division of a London Taxi.
He was also in a group of Chelsea players overheard at a Heathrow hotel making crass remarks about 9/11.
These incidents demonstrate he is both a yob and not very bright.
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Sepp Blatter is a buffoon. Coincidentally at a time when the trial of the alleged yobs who allegedly murdered Stephen Lawrence is ongoing, a name synonymous with racial intolerance, at least Stephen left a lasting legacy in his short lifetime - more than this pompous, bloated knob will ever do.
Don't start me on Footballers.
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In that case I reserve the right to defer to more in-depth knowledge and retract the "harsh" bit of my comment, - however, as a Chelsea fan.......
Oh and Blatter is both a "Buffoon" and a power-crazed dictator!
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....and on top of that after all the sectarian/religious nonsense in Scottish football (who I assume are in FIFA) - the man is out of touch with reality.
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>>....and on top of that after all the sectarian/religious nonsense in Scottish football (who I assume are in FIFA) - the man is out of touch with reality.
Rob that has been going on for years, in fact over a century due to the different roots of the clubs.
I don't think the issue is that one set of fans feels hurt or insulted with what the others sing as there is, in a strange way, a mutual respect for the backgrounds.
What does cause the problem is when police and polititcians interfere and are seen to be taking sides, or only acting against one set, or when a neutral observer reports the singing to UEFA / FIFA.
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> there is, in a strange way, a mutual respect for the backgrounds.
Yes very strange, down south we call it rioting, violence, stabbings, and intimidation,
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No, thats London you are thinking of there!
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...as a Chelsea fan...
Terry has many qualities as a footballer, not least pride in the shirt and a never-say-die attitude.
Nor does he limp off the pitch at the slightest twinge.
As another player said: "Cut John in half and both bits would carry on playing."
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So far as racist comments go, handshakes dont cut it, in this day and age anyone in professional life should know better and if they dont, they can get lost.
Blatter is a fool and needs putting out to pasture before he causes any more issues. Stupid man.
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White men, particulalry those in comfortable postions, need to engage their brains before talking about racism.
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Blatter is clearly unpopular here and he's being lynched by footer people and the media. I don't know why people don't like him and I don't care, nor do I care about footer.
But I'm not deaf or blind and I tried to take in what the fellow said about racism. He was talking, very clearly, about remarks made on the field in the heat of the moment by people who in many cases are overpaid, inflated, talented young yobbos. In that context his remarks seem to me to be quite reasonable. After all these people play with each other, know each other socially. Those most concerned will always know - black people have highly developed antennae for it - whether they are dealing with a nasty real racist or just someone rude and uncultured who doesn't really 'mean it'. In that case a handshake may not even be necessary.
Those lynching Blatter very often seem to be talking about racist chanting from the terraces, which Blatter didn't mention at all. It seems to me that there is something deeply and unpleasantly hypocritical - racist almost - about this universal howl of indignation. But of course we British are renowned both for our hypocrisy and our subtle, highly-evolved racism.
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Armel,
These overpaid, inflated, talented young yobbos should take some responsibility and should not use such language - they use, and it's a case of monkey see, monkey do and kids mimicking their antics across the nation are influenced. All that Rooney and his odious ilk do is promote a particular brand of yobbery as acceptable.
If FIFA had any backbone it would tackle the terrace racism you mention, it hasn't so it won't.
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Rob,
>>These overpaid, inflated, talented young yobbos should take some responsibility and should not use such language - they use
the problem is, without being brutal about it, many of the top footballers are lacking in full intellect and are maybe not the brainiest in the pack. Many will have excelled at football instead of at school.
Am afraid this element is not football only - all sorts of industries have "role models" where specific elements of society aspire to be like them - think Rooneys, think Jordan (not Joe), think z list blonde bimbo celebs, think drug dealers etc etc
For every famous person you or I think is an idiot, there will be someone out there worshipping them.
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There need to be more like Beckham. Whatever you think about him, he's a good role model. Devoted family man (despite the odd tabloid smear attempt), successful businessman, and by all accounts, a genuinely nice enough bloke that even Jeremy Clarkson admitted "feeling bad" about taking the mick out of him once he'd actually met him.
Can you imagine what the likes of Rooney would be if he weren't a gifted footballer? Those hoodies that hang around shops on BMX bikes designed for 10 year old kids, and disappear whenever the police turn up.....
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>> There need to be more like Beckham. Whatever you think about him, he's a good
>> role model. Devoted family man (despite the odd tabloid smear attempt),
Are you saying that this devoted family man is not an adulterer?
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>> >> There need to be more like Beckham. Whatever you think about him, he's a
>> good
>> >> role model. Devoted family man (despite the odd tabloid smear attempt),
>>
>> Are you saying that this devoted family man is not an adulterer?
The evidence would suggest he is not.
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>> The evidence would suggest he is not.
And in any case it's none of anyone's damn business. Only a fussy prurient twozzer would give a toss.
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>> There need to be more like Beckham. Whatever you think about him, he's a good
>> role model.
>>
Footballers are not role models and we should stop pretending they are. They're just footballers. No-one ever held Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse or Keith Moon up as role models.
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>>
>> Footballers are not role models and we should stop pretending they are. They're just footballers.
>> No-one ever held Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse or Keith Moon up as role models.
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>>
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Footballers per-se, no. Famous people though will always have their lives in the public eye, and therefore a duty to act accordingly in public. Young people in particular, like it or not, will look up to these people.
David Beckham came from a working class background, no silver spoon, took a talent, worked damn hard on it, and became rich, successful, and respected, without becoming a pompous, self important prima-donna and staying on the right side of the law. Kids could look up to far worse people.
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>> David Beckham came from a working class background, no silver spoon, took a talent, worked damn hard on it, and became rich, successful, and respected, without becoming a pompous, self important prima-donna and staying on the right side of the law. Kids could look up to far worse people.
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Beckham is far from squeaky clean in his private life, as Rebecca Loos would testify. Not that it's anyone's business but his own and his wife's, of course.
But footballers bring out the worst in people bile when in general they are fit, healthy and relatively clean living individuals despite the understandable percentage who go off the rails. Nobody ever goes on about overpaid rock stars out of their heads on drugs and booze, wrecking hotel rooms etc. indeed they are celebrated for it, re Amy Winehouse, the singer who recently drank herself to death.
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Because on every given day 22 youngsters are facing each other in hundreds of communities across the country - what they see on/in the media about their "heroes" immediately becomes the currency of the football grounds. That's the difference.
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They need to be more like Beckham? Sorry didn't he go to bed with the Dutch girl allegedly.
He is covered in tattoos neck included.Racism can be very suttle I have come across it regulary in my younger days.Not a excuse on the football field but in the heat of the moment S happens.Rooney is a good footballer another bad example behaviour wise.
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>> yobbos should take some responsibility and should not use such language
Absolutely Rob. Of course such behaviour should be firmly discouraged. People seen or heard doing it should be sent off.
But football players are young and quite often from very unreconstructed lumpen prole backgrounds. Some have the brains to evolve quickly but many haven't. As I said, the people most concerned can usually tell whether it's a mountain of hatred or a molehill of over-excited rough language. It doesn't help anyone to get the two confused.
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>> But football players are young and quite often from very unreconstructed lumpen prole backgrounds. Some have the brains to evolve quickly but many haven't.
A very good friend of mine plays pro football.
He played in Russia, and earned $1-million (paid offshore) a year.
As he said "every time I trained in minus 14 weather, there was a spur - the mansion overlooking False bay, the double door fridge, the big TV etc etc etc..."
He has done rather well out of life, and is sensible enough to invest wisely in property etc
He is married to a lady who was a Miss South Africa finalist, who has a degree, and her own fashion and manufacturing business. And therefore not a stereotypical bimbo/WAG
.*********
So there you go.
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In answer to AC;
Pretty much how I see it.
Things said in the heat of battle to wind an opponent up are a lot different to a calculated insult to a stranger out on the street. Involving the police in this case is ridiculous.
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Fri 18 Nov 11 at 17:17
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If you want an idea of what kind of ship Mr. Blatter captains you should read Foul! by Andrew Jennings (banned in Switzerland funnily enough).
The man really does believe he is untouchable and has proven so, so far.
He will NEVER step down from his current position, they'll have to carry him out in a wooden box.
Last edited by: gmac on Fri 18 Nov 11 at 18:01
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Sepp Blatter - Baffoon or got a point? - Meldrew
